Systems and methods for managing an online user experience

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are described for monitoring and managing an online experience. An example method includes: obtaining user data describing interactions between a plurality of users and plurality of online services; determining, based on the user data, a rate of change in usage of the online services for each user in the plurality of users; assigning a portion of the users to a user segment based on the user data and the determined rate of change in usage; and based on the assignment, providing each user in the user segment with a customized experience in one or more of the online services.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/900,351, filed Sep. 13, 2019, the entire contents ofwhich are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

The following disclosure relates to systems and methods for monitoringand managing on online experience and, in certain examples, to systemsand methods that enable online services to provide customized userexperiences based on user interactions with the online services.

A large number and wide variety of online services are available toconsumers who use client devices, such as media players, desktopcomputers, mobile phones, and smart TVs to access the services over theInternet. A streaming service provider, for example, can offer onlinestreaming of movies, television programs, and/or music through a free orsubscription-based service. Alternatively, users can download entirecontent files to their client devices prior to viewing or experiencingcontent. In addition to movies, television, and music, consumers canaccess online services related to gaming, e-commerce, communications,financial services, education, news, online storage, billing, customerrelationship management (CRM), and/or marketplace online services. Thereis a need for an online service provider to provide an improved onlineexperience by ensuring that users are taking advantage of all availablebenefits in the online service, to ensure higher user retention and moreactive user engagement with the online service.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods are described for monitoring and managing an onlineexperience for users of one or more online services. An example methodincludes: obtaining user data describing interactions between aplurality of users and at least one online service; determining, basedon the user data, a rate of change in usage of individual features andcontent within the online service for each user in the plurality ofusers; assigning a portion of the users to a user segment based on theuser data and the determined rate of change in usage; and based on theassignment, providing each user in the user segment with a designatedcustomized experience in one or more aspects of the online service. Invarious examples, a plurality of segments may be assigned one or moreexperiences and a user's assignment within a segment may change overtime based on variations in that user's usage of the online service.

In one aspect, the subject matter of this disclosure relates to acomputer-implemented method of monitoring and managing an onlineexperience. The method includes: obtaining user data describinginteractions between a plurality of users and a plurality of onlineservices; determining, based on the user data, a rate of change in usageof the online services for each user in the plurality of users;assigning a portion of the users to a user segment based on the userdata and the determined rate of change in usage; and based on theassignment, providing each user in the user segment with a customizedexperience in one or more of the online services.

In certain examples, obtaining the user data can include: providing adesignation of one or more online items to be tracked, the online itemsincluding webpages, user interface buttons, and/or online events;receiving tracking data including a record of clicks, number of visits,and usage time corresponding to the online items; and aggregating thetracking data by user to obtain user data describing each user'sinteractions with one or more of the online services. Each onlineservice can include a website and/or a software application. The onlineservices can provide content including video content, audio content,and/or text content. The rate of change can be indicative of decliningusage of a first online service from the plurality of online services,and the customized experience can include an incentive or guidance toincrease usage of the first online service.

In some implementations, the users can be assigned to one or moreadditional segments based on a churn score, a fraud score, a customersatisfaction score, a net promoter score, and/or a lifetime value. Thecustomized experience can be delivered to all users of the user segment,and other users from the plurality of users may not receive thecustomized experience. The customized experience can be or include ahidden action in which a sequence of content is provided to the users ofthe user segment. The customized experience can be or include a path inwhich content is provided to users according to a predefined timeline.Providing the customized experience can include limiting a frequency ofcontent presentations across the online services for each user in theuser segment.

In another aspect, the subject matter of this disclosure relates to asystem. The system includes one or more computer systems programmed toperform operations including: obtaining user data describinginteractions between a plurality of users and a plurality of onlineservices; determining, based on the user data, a rate of change in usageof the online services for each user in the plurality of users;assigning a portion of the users to a user segment based on the userdata and the determined rate of change in usage; and based on theassignment, providing each user in the user segment with a customizedexperience in one or more of the online services.

In some instances, obtaining the user data can include: providing adesignation of one or more online items to be tracked, the online itemsincluding webpages, user interface buttons, and/or online events;receiving tracking data including a record of clicks, number of visits,and usage time corresponding to the online items; and aggregating thetracking data by user to obtain user data describing each user'sinteractions with one or more of the online services. Each onlineservice can include a website and/or a software application. The onlineservices can provide content including video content, audio content,and/or text content. The rate of change can be indicative of decliningusage of a first online service from the plurality of online services,and the customized experience can include an incentive to increase usageof the first online service.

In certain examples, the users can be assigned to one or more additionalsegments based on a churn score, a fraud score, a customer satisfactionscore, a net promoter score, and/or a lifetime value. The customizedexperience can be delivered to all users of the user segment, and otherusers from the plurality of users may not receive the customizedexperience. The customized experience can be or include a hidden actionin which a sequence of content is provided to the users of the usersegment. The customized experience can be or include a path in whichcontent is provided to users according to a predefined timeline.Providing the customized experience can include limiting a frequency ofcontent presentations across the online services for each user in theuser segment.

In another aspect, the subject matter of this disclosure relates to anon-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions storedthereon that, when executed by one or more computer processors, causethe one or more computer processors to perform operations including:obtaining user data describing interactions between a plurality of usersand a plurality of online services; determining, based on the user data,a rate of change in usage of the online services for each user in theplurality of users; assigning a portion of the users to a user segmentbased on the user data and the determined rate of change in usage; andbased on the assignment, providing each user in the user segment with acustomized experience in one or more of the online services.

These and other objects, along with advantages and features ofembodiments of the present invention herein disclosed, will become moreapparent through reference to the following description, the figures,and the claims. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the features ofthe various embodiments described herein are not mutually exclusive andcan exist in various combinations and permutations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the sameparts throughout the different views. Also, the drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed uponillustrating the principles of the invention. In the followingdescription, various embodiments of the present invention are describedwith reference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for monitoring and managing anonline experience, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a screenshot of an example graphical user interface thatallows an operator of an online service to specify combinations oftraits or user segments to be tracked in the online service, accordingto an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a screenshot of an example item of content presented to a userof an online service, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a screenshot of an example graphical user interface that canbe used by an operator of an online service to configure one or moreactions to be taken in response to user interactions with contentpresented in the online service, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a screenshot of an example graphical user interface thatallows an operator of an online service to visualize an influence thatitems of content have on user retention in the online service over time,according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an example method of monitoring and managing anonline experience, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example computer system, according to anexemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is contemplated that apparatus, systems, methods, and processes ofthe claimed invention encompass variations and adaptations developedusing information from the embodiments described herein. Adaptationand/or modification of the apparatus, systems, methods, and processesdescribed herein may be performed by those of ordinary skill in therelevant art.

It should be understood that the order of steps or order for performingcertain actions is immaterial so long as the invention remains operable.Moreover, two or more steps or actions may be conducted simultaneously.

In various examples, the systems and methods described herein provide areal-time cloud infrastructure platform that enables real-time targetingof users for monitoring and managing an online user experience. Thesystems and methods can provide highly dynamic software applications(e.g., mobile applications or apps), websites, and other online servicesby, for example, segmenting users into actionable groups and providingone or more of the user segments with customized online experiences(e.g., unique content presentations and/or system features). The systemsand methods can provide real-time, dynamic, rules-based paths to manageonline content presentations, such that a single online service candeliver multiple experiences to different user segments. This canenable, for example, a differentiated experience for high value usersversus fraudulent users, or customized experiences based on, forexample, time of day, content availability, a user's lack of use ofcertain features of the online service, or other measurable businessdimensions.

In various examples, a “user” or “consumer” can be or refer to a personwho uses or accesses an online service (e.g., using a website or an“app,” such as a mobile application, a desktop application, or a TVapplication) that is monitored and managed using the systems and methodsdescribed herein.

In various examples, a “customer” or “operator” can be or refer to anindividual, company, organization, or other entity that owns or operatesan online service accessed by users. The operator can utilize thesystems and methods described herein to provide an improved orcustomized user experience in the online service.

In various examples, a “trait” can be or refer to an individual userattribute and/or behavior exhibited by a user. A trait can be orinclude, for example, a device type, a lifetime value (LTV), a fraudscore, a churn score, a net promoter score (NPS), and/or a customersatisfaction score. Traits can include system traits that are providedby the systems described herein, such as geographical location, orcustom traits that are unique to an online service, such as, forexample, the number of times the user has accessed a specific feature orarea of the online service, or annual revenue per user (ARPU). Traitscan be aggregated or grouped into categories, such as, for example,device types, device locations, user characteristics, and/or othercategories. Custom traits or trait categories can be specified by anoperator.

In various examples, a “segment” can be or refer to a group of usersthat share a common set of traits. A segment can be or include, forexample, a group of users sharing one or more of the following traits:high LTV, high NPS scores, high fraud scores, users in a trialsubscription, trialist users with heavy usage, users making limited useof premium features, all connected TV users in a specified geographicalregion (e.g., California), a rate of change in the usage of specificfeatures over a specified time period (e.g., a 50% increase week overweek), or other traits. A user may belong to more than one segment, andthere are generally no limits on the number of segments that may becreated or the specific traits that can be combined to form a segment.

In various examples, a “promotion” (alternatively referred to as an“incentive” or “guidance”) can be or refer to content (e.g., text,video, images, and/or audio) that is shown or presented to an end useron the user's client device in an effort to incentivize or encourage adesired user behavior and/or to provide guidance to inform the user ofone or more features available in an online service. Promotions can belimited to, for example, specific segments of users, a maximum number ofusers, a time of day, and/or a day of the week. Any and all aspects of apromotion's appearance can be modified or customized by an operator ofan online service. A promotion can be implemented in or include, forexample, one or more actions taken for one or more segments during aspecific time or according to a calendar schedule. A promotion can belimited by a financial budget or a maximum number of users. A promotioncan be presented on user client devices via a full screen overlay, apopup window, or other portion of a webpage or app (e.g., an inlineplacement).

In various examples, an “action” can be or refer to a task that apromotion or an experience is configured to perform when triggered oraccepted by a user. An action can be or include, for example, extendinga user's free trial of an online service, adding a discount to a user'spurchase, upgrading or downgrading a user's plan, guiding the user onthe usage of a feature, providing access to content or areas of a sitethat might be of interest to the user, reducing or increasing an amountof advertisements shown, and/or opening a support ticket with acustomized priority setting. Actions may be performed in a server sideor client side manner, depending on the type of operation required.

In various examples, a “path” or “experience” can be or refer to acombination of one or more actions with one or more segments. Theexperience can remain in place for a specific time duration (e.g., aday, week, or month) or can be implemented according to a timeline orcalendar schedule. Experiences may be invisible to the end user and/ormay require no action by the end user to be initiated. For example,experiences can be triggered automatically or by an operator of anonline service. In some instances, for example, an operator may activateVIP support and/or reduced ad load for members or users having high LTV.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 for monitoring and managing anonline user experience. A server system 112 provides functionality formonitoring and managing user consumption of online services provided bya plurality of online service providers, including a first onlineservice provider 114 and a second online service provider 116, which canbe provided by one or more operators, as described herein. Any number ofonline service providers can be included in the system 100. The serversystem 112 includes software components and databases that can bedeployed at one or more data centers 118 in one or more geographiclocations, for example. In certain instances, the server system 112 is,includes, or utilizes a content delivery network (CDN). The serversystem 112 software components can include a tracking module 120 fortracking or monitoring user consumption, a segment module 122 forassigning or aggregating users into one or more segments or groups, andan action module 124 for taking one or more actions to provide usersegments with customized or differentiated experiences in the onlineservices (e.g., provided by the online service providers 114 and 116),as described herein. The software components can include subcomponentsthat can execute on the same or on different individual processors ordata processing apparatus. The server system 112 databases can include auser data 126 database for storing data associated with one or moreusers of the online services. The data can include informationdescribing or relating to each individual user's activities associatedwith the online services. The user data 126 database can reside in oneor more physical storage systems. The software components and data willbe further described below.

In various examples, the online service providers 114 and 116 canprovide online services to a plurality of users. The online services canbe provided using, for example, a software application (e.g., aclient-based application, such as a mobile or connected TV basedapplication) or a web-based software application. The online servicescan relate to a wide variety of services, functions, and information,including, for example, entertainment (e.g., games, music, videos,movies, etc.), e-health, e-learning, business (e.g., word processing,accounting, spreadsheets, etc.), news, weather, finance, sports, etc.The users can access the online services through a network 130 (e.g.,including the Internet) through the use of client devices, such as atablet computer 140, a smart phone 142, and a personal computer 144.Other client devices are possible. For example, in some instances, theuser client devices can include media streaming devices, such as anAPPLE TV or a ROKU streaming device. In alternative examples, the userdata 126 database or any portions thereof can be stored on one or moreclient devices and/or in databases associated with the online serviceproviders 114 and 116. Additionally or alternatively, softwarecomponents for the system 100 (e.g., the tracking module 120, thesegment module 122, and/or the action module 124) or any portionsthereof can reside on or be used to perform operations on one or moreclient devices and/or the online service providers 114 and 116.

In various examples, the system 100 and associated methods can provide adata-driven, real-time retention and engagement platform. The systemsand methods can allow operators or managers of websites and apps (e.g.,online service providers 114 and 116) to create data-driven retentionmessaging to end users powered by a rich targeting system that cancontinuously monitor individual product usage. In some instances, forexample, one or more items of content (e.g., promotions) can betriggered based not only on a user's usage characteristics but alsobased on time on webpages, button clicks, navigation history, or otheruser characteristics or activities. The system 100 can allow onlineservice providers to build highly dynamic apps and websites, forexample, by (i) segmenting users into actionable groups and/or (ii)converting fixed business rules and systems into flexible paths. Theapproach can be integrated into a backend or server directly (e.g.,through experiences) or directly into an app or website (e.g.,promotion).

In some implementations, the system 100 can utilize server-side codeconnections, which can make systems of online service providers highlydynamic and flexible, without complicated logic or programming. This canbe achieved by extracting information from business systems or databasesand attaching the information to incoming HTTP headers, so that suchinformation can be accessible by the operator's APIs and server sidesystems. The extracted information can include, for example, usertraits, data merged from external databases and APIs, and/or actionsdefined within a path, as described herein. The architecture of thesystem 100 can achieve an always-on intelligence that enables onlineservice providers to be more successful, self-sufficient, and/or privateand less dependent on congestion-prone single points of processing.

Advantageously, in various instances, by creating a capability forreal-time, dynamic rules-based paths to availability, quality, support,and/or promotions, a single app or website can deliver multipleexperiences (e.g., customized user experiences) to different usersegments, thereby enabling a differentiated or customized experience fordifferent user groups (e.g., high LTV users vs. fraudulent users) orbased on time of day, content availability, or any measurable businessdimension. The system 100 can achieve these capabilities through the useof usage tracking, traits, actions, triggers, segments, promotions,and/or experiences, as described herein.

Usage Tracking

In certain examples, the systems and methods described herein canimprove user retention and engagement for online services by trackingand storing each individual user's consumption of features and contentassociated with the online services. The systems and methods can measurechanges in a user's consumption of one or more features and content overtime (e.g., relative to the user's past usage), for example, todetermine whether the user is continuing to be engaged with or derivevalue from the service. In general, a truer picture of the user'sconsumption of the site emerges when multiple features, content, and/orbenefits are combined into a user segment that can be tracked.

For example, a video streaming site may offer users an option to watchcontent in high quality (e.g., 4K video), download videos, and/or viewcontent on multiple devices in exchange for subscribing to a premiumsubscription plan. The systems and methods can monitor or determine howmany (i) high quality videos a user views, (ii) how many videos the userdownloads, and (iii) how many different devices the user uses to accessthe service. The systems and methods can then calculate changes andrates of change in these quantities (e.g., compared to a previous timeperiod, such as previous day, week, or month) to determine whether theuser's rate of content consumption is increasing, decreasing, or stayingthe same. For example, a rate of content consumption can be determinedfor each user (e.g., videos per day or downloads per day), and changesin the rate of content consumption can be monitored over time.

In various implementations, content consumption tracking information canbe used by the systems and methods to customize a user experience, forexample, by determining whether to offer the user an incentive or informthe user about a feature or item of content the user may have missed ormay be interested in viewing. For example, an operator of an onlineservice can designate (e.g., using a graphical user interface or adminconsole) one or more webpages, app screens, buttons, or events on theservice that should be tracked. A server (e.g., the server system 112)can then transmit the list of items to be tracked to a client agent orSDK on one or more user client devices (e.g., client devices 140, 142,and 144). Clicks, visits, timestamps, and related information can becollected (e.g., using the SDK) for the tracked pages, buttons, and/orevents. The systems and methods (e.g., using the tracking module 120)can analyze the incoming content consumption information and compare theinformation with prior periods (e.g., days, weeks, or months). Based onthe obtained information, the operators of the online services cancreate one or more user segments, for example, defined by one or morespecifications, criteria, and/or thresholds. For example, an onlineservice provider may wish to create a user segment based on consumptionof a specific type of content, such as HD content. This can allow theservice provider to identify users according to HD content consumptionpatterns or behavior. It may be important, for example, for the serviceprovider to achieve a weekly 10% increase in HD content consumptionamong users. Such information can be monitored through the creation ofone or more segments.

In certain examples, segments can be defined as a collection of one ormore traits (e.g., user attributes or behavior) that can be tracked foreach online service. Common traits can include, for example, how often auser visits a website or app, and/or how long the user stays during avisit. Additionally or alternatively, traits can include informationrelated to user devices, locations, and/or business metrics, such as LTVor a customer satisfaction score. In some examples, traits can benormalized, for example, on a 0-10 scale, with a lowest value in thedataset normalized to 0 and a highest value normalized to 10. Thenormalization can be performed or adjusted in real time as new lowvalues and high values are recorded. Such normalization can enableonline service operators to more easily compare usage levels amongusers, without having to understand site-wide averages, highs, or lows.For example, a heavy user can be defined as a user whose minutes pervisit is growing by 30% or more each week.

In some examples, certain traits such as lifetime value (LTV) and/orsatisfaction score, can be ingested from an online service provider'sdata source. This can be accomplished, for example, by obtaining amapping of a user ID to the trait value (e.g., in a CSV or TSV file).The file can be stored and encrypted, if desired, on a secured database(e.g., Amazon S3) and/or can be ingested on a periodic basis to captureupdates. As an alternative to ingesting such a file, trait data can betransmitted (e.g., from an online service provider to the server system112) via SFTP and API mechanisms and/or scheduled to sync upon a presetfrequency.

In some examples, a custom trait can be configured by an operator of anonline service provider by specifying certain information, such as: aname or label for the trait (e.g., “Lifetime Value” or “NPS”); a datatype (e.g., whether the trait is represented by a number, a Booleanvalue, a string, or a date); and/or a display type (e.g., a slider,checkbox, dropdown, multi select, range select, or text input box).Traits can include system traits, such as, for example: time in app(e.g., visit duration time spent by the user in the app in MM:SS),number of visits (e.g., number of times per day, week, or month a uservisits an online service), geographic location (e.g., city, town, state,country, and/or postal code), device type (e.g., phone, tablet, laptop,desktop, TV, or watch), device OS (e.g., iOS, ANDROID, WINDOWS, orCHROME), connection type (e.g., 3G, LTE, WiFi, and/or carrier name), appversion, concurrency level (e.g., a number of unique concurrent sessionsusing identical login credentials), fraud score (e.g., a number between0 and 100 ranking the user's likelihood of being a fraudulent user),user ID, days to renewal, and/or referrer (e.g., source website orpartner name associated with first time visitors). Custom traits caninclude, for example, customer LTV (e.g., total time and/or money spentby user since first visit), customer since (e.g., months or years sincecustomer account was created), trial about to end (e.g., true if user iswithin three days of trial end date), is delinquent (e.g., true if alast billing attempt was unsuccessful), customer satisfaction score(e.g., NPS or like score usually on a 1-10 scale), customer acquisitioncost (e.g., a cost to acquire the user, usually determined by areferrer), number of tickets (e.g., for customer support) opened byuser, last accessed support channel, purchase urgency (e.g., anindication based on historic data of a user's willingness to acquire anitem immediately and for immediate consumption), asset expiration date(e.g., a date and time when an item expires, which can be useful formodifying system behavior related to time sensitive events such as asporting match or perishable items), and/or support traits (e.g., anumber of open tickets, last accessed support channel, customersatisfaction score, or NPS score).

For example, FIG. 2 includes a screenshot 200 of an example graphicaluser interface that an operator of an online service can use to specifycombinations of traits or user segments to track. The graphical userinterface allows the operator to create new combinations of traits forfuture tracking purposes. Desired tracking configurations can be savedfor subsequent use. A custom tracker for an item can include, forexample, a name (e.g., “Downloads”), a one sentence description of thetracker, a type (e.g., whether the item being tracked is a page, track,or event), and/or a value (e.g., a value for the item). While a newlyadded tracker can begin collecting information immediately, it may taketime (e.g., up to 24 hours) before the tracker has acquired enoughinformation to produce meaningful results or targeting options.

In various examples, the systems and methods described herein canprovide certain default or initial tracking capabilities (e.g.,out-of-the-box, without a need for additional configuration by onlineservice providers) related to one or more of the following usagecharacteristics for online services: number of visits, minutes pervisit, location (city, state, postal code), and/or device (type,platform, operating system). Usage tracking can be customized further totrack specific user actions within a website, page, or app userinterface, such as, for example, a button click or a visited URL.

After data collection has been active for an initial period of time(e.g., two or more weeks), the systems and methods can provide a fraudscore and/or a churn score for each user. The fraud score can indicate,for example, a level of fraud associated with a user. In some instances,for example, the fraud score can indicate that a user is a bot and/or auser who has a malicious intent. The fraud score can be a number betweenzero and 10 representing a likelihood that a user is a fraudulent user.The fraud score can be computed in real time for every visitor to theonline service and can be available as a trait upon user arrival to theservice.

Fraud calculations can be reputation-based, rules-based, or machinelearning based. The reputation-based approach can involve calculatingfraud scores utilizing known deny list databases from a variety ofsources. Typical information for this purpose can include deviceidentifier, email address, IP address, and/or phone number. Therules-based approach can be used to increase or decrease thereputation-based bases score according to one or more rules applied tovarious user characteristics. For example, the use of anonymizers withcertain foreign IP addresses may be indicative of fraud and may boostthe fraud score by 10%. The machine learning based approach forcalculating the fraud score can be done in a supervised manner, forexample, in which feature engineered data sets are fed to an activeclassifier to produce the fraud score. Behaviors specific to usage of anonline service can be implemented using this method. In some examples,machine learning models can be trained to recognize user activitypatterns associated with fraud and, once trained, the models can receiveactivity data for a user as input and provide the fraud score as output.

Additionally or alternatively, the churn score can indicate, forexample, a level of churn or inactivity associated with a user. Forexample, a user who has stopped (e.g., for several days, weeks, ormonths) visiting an online service or accessing one or more availablefeatures or content can have a high churn score for that service. Thechurn score can be a number (e.g., between zero and one) indicating aprobability or likelihood that a user will churn (e.g., stop using orleave an online service). Machine learning models can be used tocalculate the churn score based on historic data about users who havechurned from the service. For example, historic churn data can beimported and a custom trait can be provided that indicates a user'sretention status. The custom trait can be or include, for example, adate that a user's membership ended or will end, and/or a field denotingwhether a user is active or churned. In various examples, machinelearning models can be trained to recognize user activity patternsassociated with churn and, once trained, the models can receive activitydata for a user as input and provide the churn score as output.

Actions

In various examples, an action can be or include one or more steps thatare performed (e.g., in an online service) based on a user'sinteractions with content, such as a promotion. The action can be orinclude, for example, preparing and sending an email to a mailing listeach time a user accepts a promotion. The email can contain actionabledetails for an agent to perform the required promotion such as, forexample, applying a discount or extending a membership. An action can bean item (e.g., an item of content or a user setting or status) within anapplication frontend or backend (e.g., on a client device or server,respectively) that can be dynamically altered and/or provided to a user.Examples of such items can include implementing coupons and associatedcontent, support channels (e.g., customer support services available foronly certain users), or changes to trial duration (e.g., extending auser's free trial). Such action items can be specified as a name-valuepair and can be available to the frontend or backend (e.g., as an HTTPheader). Actions can trigger modifications to backend business systemsor applications based on criteria specified within segments. This can beused, for example, to disable promotion codes for users in a high fraudscore segment.

One type of action that can be taken can be referred to as a “hiddenaction,” which can involve taking steps to modify a standard userexperience for one or more (e.g., users in a segment). The experiencefor users in a free tier (e.g., a trial subscription) may be adjusted,for example, such that these users receive a customized experience(e.g., more advertising or promotion content), compared to other usersin a paid tier, or have trial periods automatically extended due tolimited use. In some implementations, an operator of an online servicethat is targeting specific sets of users (e.g., utilizing segmentationand usage consumption tracking) can provide a customized user experienceusing hidden actions implemented using the systems and methods describedherein. Hidden actions can allow the operator to specify a set ofreal-time actions that can automatically trigger when a targeted set ofusers is utilizing the online service (e.g., website or app).

In various examples, hidden actions can utilize or include third partyconnector actions, custom connector actions, and/or user experienceproperties. With third party connector actions, the systems and methodscan interface with a set of online services to perform user specificactions on the services' behalf. Such actions can include, for example,adding a user to an email campaign or support ticket, or creating anindividualized user coupon (e.g., including image or video content).With custom connector actions, an operator of an online service canconfigure the systems and methods to call an existing API on the backend(e.g., on a server) of the operator's system using appropriateauthentication and API parameters, preferably in such a manner that noengineering changes are required on the operator's system. Additionallyor alternatively, user experience properties can allow an operator of anonline service to define properties that signal the service (e.g., appand/or website) to modify or customize the experience for a specificuser. Such modifications can include, for example, adjusting a displaybanner or video ad load, providing improved content quality (e.g., UHDquality video streams) for high value users, and/or providing cosmeticupdates for certain users (e.g., VIP users). The cosmetic updates caninclude, for example, one or more changes to a layout, color scheme,text, images, video, or audio in a graphical user interface for theusers.

In some examples, to implement a hidden action, an operator of an onlineservice can use a console (e.g., an admin console or other userinterface) provided by the systems and methods described herein tospecify one or more segments that will receive a set of actionsassociated with the hidden action. The operator can use the console tospecify an order in which the actions are performed. When a user logs inor visits the online service, the systems and methods described hereincan determine (e.g., in real-time) which segment(s) the user belongs to.If the user belongs to a segment having an associated hidden action, thesystems and methods can execute the associated actions (e.g., externaland/or API actions) in the order specified. In some instances, when thehidden action or promotion contains client-side actions, such actionscan be returned by the server for execution on a client device (e.g., aclient SDK embedded within the user's app or browser). In someinstances, when a user is determined to be in a free tier, the systemsand methods can initiate an external API action (e.g., to an ad server)to configure a parameter that controls how many ads should be shown tothe user.

In some instances, rather than or in addition to initiating a singleaction (e.g., a subscribe action) in response to a user's interactionwith content (e.g., acceptance of guidance or a promotion), it can bedesirable to initiate a series of sequential actions, which can bereferred to herein as “cascading actions” or “cascading 1-clickactions.” The sequence of actions can include, for example, a subscribeaction, followed by changing a user status (e.g., to VIP status),followed by sending an email to the user (e.g., notifying the user ofthe status change). The systems and methods described herein areconfigured to enable an operator of an online service to define andimplement cascading actions, which can include any combination ofactions that may be modified at any time.

FIG. 3 includes a screenshot 300 of a promotion or guidance presented toa user. The user has several options for interacting with such content,and each option can trigger a specific set of cascading actions taken inresponse to the user's interaction. In some instances, for example, aunique or distinct cascading action can be implemented for each type ofuser interaction, which can include, for example: a primary acceptinteraction 302 (e.g., a most prominent call to action triggered when auser clicks a “sign me up” or “accept” button), a secondary acceptinteraction 304 (e.g., a second most desired call to action triggeredwhen a user seeks additional information related to the promotion), adecline interaction 306 (e.g., a user clicks a “no thanks” or “decline”button), a dismiss interaction 308 (e.g., a user closes the promotion),and/or a timeout interaction 310 (e.g., triggered by a configurablecountdown timer that closes the promotion when an allotted timeexpires).

In various implementations, any action or set of cascading actionstrigged by a user's interaction with content (e.g., a promotion) can beor include a third party connector action, a custom connector action,and/or a website or client action. With a third party connector action,the systems and methods can interface with a set of third party servicesto perform user specific actions on the online service operator'sbehalf. Such actions can include, for example, adding a user to an emailcampaign or a support ticket, or creating an individualized user coupon.With a custom connector action, an operator of an online service canconfigure the systems and methods to call an existing API on the onlineservice's backend (e.g., a server computer) with appropriateauthentication and API parameters in such a way that no engineeringchanges are required from the operator. With a website or client action(e.g., on a website or client application), an operator of an onlinesystem can configure the systems and methods described herein with asnippet of code that can be executed (e.g., to generate content or apromotion) on a user's client device when the user interaction takesplace. This can enable real-time execution of logic that can rely onfunctionality and user context residing on a client application, yet maynot require a recompilation of any application code used by the operator(e.g., on the client device).

FIG. 4 includes a screenshot 400 of an example graphical user interface(e.g., an admin console) that allows an operator of an online serviceprovider to configure one or more actions to take in response to userinteractions with content presented in the online service. The actionscan include, for example, hidden actions or cascading actions. A uniqueset of actions can be taken in response to each type of user interactionwith the content.

To implement a cascading action, an operator of an online serviceprovider can use the admin console to define one or more actionsassociated with a promotion. A specific sequence for the actions can bespecified, for example, by dragging user-interface elements for theactions into a desired order. An end user who visits the online serviceand qualifies to receive the promotion (e.g., based on user segment) cantrigger the cascade of specified actions on a server computer (e.g.,server system 112) for the systems and methods. The server can then callthe associated external or custom API to execute the actions (e.g., onthe user client device).

In general, after a user accepts a promotion by clicking on a primary orsecondary accept call to action, the systems and methods can continuetracking the user's usage to determine whether a goal of the operatorhas been satisfied. The goal can be defined (e.g., by the operator usingthe admin console) as a usage consumption tracker and can be attached toor associated with the promotion. Once an operator's defined goal hasbeen met, the systems and methods can include the tracking data in acollection of metrics made available to the operator, so that theoperator can track performance of promotions, incentives, or otherguidance.

In various examples, the actions performed by the systems and methodsdescribed herein can include, for example, built-in actions, custom APIactions, website or client actions, connector actions, and/or supportactions. Built-in actions can be or include, for example, sending anemail (e.g., to a specified address when a user interacts with content),sending an SMS or text message (e.g., to a specified mobile number whena user interacts with content), or redirecting a user (e.g., to aspecified URL when a user interacts with content). Custom API actionscan allow an operator to specify API-driven actions to the backend(e.g., on a server) of the operator's system. Custom API actions can beor include, for example, registration or sign up, add to favorites orbookmark, purchase, or share. Website or client actions can allow anoperator to specify client-side JS actions that can be used within anitem of content (e.g., a promotion). Website or client actions can be orinclude, for example, registration or sign up, add to favorites orbookmark, purchase, or share. Connector actions can be performed withinthird party business systems or backends. In addition to or instead ofthird party systems, a connector can be established to the backend of anonline service provider, which in turn can enable the online serviceprovider to perform advanced actions within a promotion. For example, apromotion to add a movie to a watchlist or add an item to a cart can beperformed automatically or directly in response to one click by theuser. Support actions can be or include, for example, showing or hidinga support channel or link to customer service (e.g., by changing avisibility of support channels on an embedded widget), assigningpriority to a support ticket (e.g., set the priority to urgent, high,medium, or low) adding information to a ticket (e.g., add the visitor'sprofile to the ticket, such as user ID, LTV, customer acquisition cost,etc.), adding tags to ticket (e.g., add predefined tags to a user whocreated tickets through the widget, such as high LTV, VIP, high fraud,etc.), setting ticket state (e.g., setting a status on a ticket to new,open, pending, solved, or hold), and/or adding info to chat (e.g.,adding a visitor's profile to chat, such as user ID, LTV, customeracquisition cost, etc.). The systems and methods described herein caninclude or provide a support module that facilitates dynamic connectionsbetween a website and the website's support backend. Depending on thesupport platform, additional traits like number of tickets for the user,last accessed support channel, and customer satisfaction/NPS score canbe supported or considered.

Promotions

In various examples, a promotion or guidance can be or include contentthat is presented (e.g., in a full screen overlay or inline) to userswithin one or more segments. The content can hide the page contentand/or can occupy most of the available width and height of a user'sdisplay screen. All aspects of the promotion content can be configured,including, for example, text, appearance, buttons, actions, colorscheme, and interactivity. Promotions can optionally be set to triggerduring specific events like a button click, a visit to a specific URL,and/or time on a page. Additionally or alternatively, promotions can bescheduled to appear at a specific date and time and/or be limited to acertain number of users and/or a specific budget (e.g., specified by anoperator of an online service). Custom goals can be set on promotions,and such goals can be used to provide visibility into how well thepromotion is converting against internal success metrics. In someimplementations, an operator can experiment with a promotion using abuilt in A-B testing capability referred to as “experiments,” asdescribed herein. A promotion can be or include, for example, anincentive to upgrade to an annual plan for monthly plan members, apromotion code for users who have not yet made a purchase in an onlineservice, and/or guidance shown to a subscribing user or member whoclicks on a “cancel membership” button.

In various examples, the systems and methods described herein canimplement a cross-device promotion in which (i) a uniqueness of thepromotion can be tracked across all platforms (e.g., mobile, desktop,iOS, ANDROID, website, app, TV, and/or media streaming devices, etc.)that provide the promotion and (ii) any actions taken in response to thepromotion can be applied across all platforms. For example, when a useris shown a promotion on a ROKU TV app, the promotion can be trackedacross multiple platforms so that the user is not shown the samepromotion on a desktop or iOS. Such tracking can be achieved bymonitoring and storing user data for each individual user, to obtain arecord of each user's interactions with one or more online services.

To implement a cross-device promotion, an operator can use the adminconsole of the systems and methods described herein to designate a setof device platforms that can be used for a promotion. The devices can beor include, for example, desktop, iOS, mobile, tablet, ANDROID, TV,AMAZON FIRE TV, ROKU, and/or Apple TV. By way of user data import, aunique user identifier can be loaded into the systems and methods suchthat, when a user arrives on any platform, the user's identifier canremain the same (e.g., a single user identifier used to track a useracross all platforms). The user identifier can be used by the systemsand methods described herein to determine whether or not to show theuser a promotion on one platform that has already been presented to theuser on a different platform.

In various examples, a “promotion interaction” can be or refer tointeractions with past promotions that are tracked for use in usersegments. Such interactions can include, for example, clicking on abutton, accepting guidance, declining guidance, closing a promotion, orallowing the promotion to timeout. Promotions of any device platform canbe used to build segments according to an operator's specifications.User segments can be created, for example, based on specific promotionsthat have been presented to users, the specific devices on which thepromotions were presented, and/or the user's specific interactions withsuch promotions. In one example, if a user is shown a promotion on aROKU TV app over a specific period of time, the user can be added to asegment for that promotion and device combination. Such information canbe taken by an operator to determine whether to show a different or samepromotion on the user's desktop or iOS. Multiple profiles or segmentscan be created around the same user according to how the user interactedwith previously seen promotions. For example, user segments can becreated according to how users interact with content presented in theonline services.

Paths

In various examples, a path (alternatively referred to as an“experience”) can be or include a guided experience to a targeted userthat can be specified based on days, dates, visits, or time of day.Online service providers can have a desire to ensure that new users areprogressively made aware of various benefits or features associated withthe online services (e.g., for subscribers or members), to ensure thatthe users have an optimal experience with the service. For example, fora user in a 30-day trial, the online service provider may choose to (i)highlight unique content on the first day (e.g., with fewer ads), (ii)present a unique feature (e.g., content download capabilities) a weeklater, and (iii) reach out the user directly (e.g., by text, email, orphone) a week before the trial expires (e.g., if the user has notavailed herself of all the benefits of the trial). Advantageously, thesystems and methods described herein can make it possible for onlineservice operators to programmatically configure and modify this type ofexperience on each of the respective online service platforms.

To implement a path, an operator can define a number of promotions orother content that will be included within the path. Each promotion canbe initiated using a variety of triggers, including, for example: a timesequence in which promotions are presented to the user on a predefinedtimeline (e.g., with promotions 1, 2, and 3 presented on days 0, 7, and30, respectively, measured from the user's first visit), a usage-basedsequence in which promotions are presented to the user when certainusage thresholds are met (e.g., promotion 1 shown on the user's firstvisit to the service, promotion 2 shown on the user's third visit, andpromotion 3 shown upon the user's first use of a service feature),and/or an interaction sequence in which promotions are presented basedon interactions with one or more previous promotions (e.g., promotion 1shown on the user's first visit, promotion 2 shown on the user's nextvisit if promotion 1 was accepted by the user, and promotion 3 shown onthe user's next visit if promotion 2 was declined). Any combination oftime sequence triggers, usage-based triggers, and interaction sequencetriggers can be used within a single path. In general, promotions arepresented in the order defined within the path. A successive promotionmay be shown, for example, only after the sequence trigger condition hasbeen met and/or while the user remains active on the online service. Insome examples, a path may be or include a type of promotion that has novisual or interactive elements.

In various examples, a path can be created by combining one or moreactions with one or more segments, preferably for a specific durationand/or over a calendar schedule, and with a budgeted limit (e.g.,Path=Segment(s)+Action(s)+Schedule(s)+Budget). Paths can include or beimplemented to achieve, for example, VIP support with members onlydeals, extended trials, and/or limited discounts (e.g., VIP Path=HighLTV Users+Members Only Deals+VIP Support+Peak Times+Limited to 10,000Users). Paths can route segments of users to specific journeys throughonline services, websites, or applications. For example, all users maysee a price increase during peak times (e.g., surge pricing), or a redcarpet path may provide access to reserved items, premium support,and/or free shipping to VIP users. If a time schedule is specified for apath, then the path may be available only during those times and mayexpire at the end of the period. If a time schedule is not specified,the path may always be available.

In some examples, a budget for a path may include a user limit, whichcan be used by an operator to specify a maximum number of uniquevisitors that will be sent down a particular path. For example, a pathcalled “Red Carpet” may give a special offer to high LTV users but belimited to the first 100 users who access the path.

In general, a user limit can be specified by number, by frequency,and/or by budget. A number limit can allow an operator to specific amaximum number of users who can take action on a promotion or pathpresented to them. For example, a number limit (e.g., 1000 users) canlimit the total number of users (or total number of users in a segment)who receive the promotion. A frequency limit can allow an operator torestrict the total number of times a user can be shown a promotion witha specified period of time. For example, setting the frequency limit totwo impressions over 30 days can result in a user seeing a promotion nomore than twice over a 30-day period. The 30-day period can start whenthe first impression is shown. A budget limit can allow an operator tospecify a consumable quantity that is decreased with each user actionfor a promotion or path. Budgets may be specified on a standalone basisor in concert with user limits. Budget limits may be useful whenfinances are an important consideration. For example, a budget set to$10,000 with a decrement of $10 can be equivalent to a $10,000 budgetthat is reduced $10 at a time.

In some implementations, a traffic split may be implemented that allowsan operator to specify a portion (e.g., a percentage) of users who willbe sent down a particular path. For example, a path called “VIP offer”may distribute a service feature to 10% of users in the VIP userssegment. This approach can be used to determine how well received anoffer is before doing a full rollout.

Schedule

In some examples, a schedule can allow an operator to restrict content,such as a promotion or path, to a specific time schedule. For example,the operator can restrict a promotion or path to be active between Oct.1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2020, and further limited to Thursdays, Fridays, andSaturdays between 6 pm and 11 pm. A time schedule can include a datewindow, a day part, and a time part. The date window can specify, forexample, a start date and an end date within which the promotion or pathcan be active and outside of which the promotion or path can beinactive. The day part can be used to specify days of the week when thepromotion or path is active. The time part can be used to specify timesof the day when the promotion or path is active. In some examples, anoperator can specify whether a schedule is based on a time zoneassociated with user's client device or client application or on a timezone associated with the operator.

In some implementations, an omni-channel frequency cap can beimplemented that limits how many times a user can see one or morepromotions. The promotion frequency cap can enable an operator of anonline service to specify a maximum number of times a user can see asingle promotion. Likewise, a global frequency cap can enable theoperator to specify a maximum number of times a user can see alleligible promotions. For example, for a segment of users, an onlineservice provider may choose to show one promotion once a day and asecond promotion twice within a seven day period, with a maximum of 30promotions in 30 days. Such frequency caps can reduce the number oftimes a user sees the same promotion, which can help ensure a betteruser experience with less promotion fatigue. The frequency criteria canbe applied automatically to cover over all device platforms used by theonline service.

To implement a frequency cap, an operator of an online service providercan use the systems and methods described herein to define a frequencycap on specific promotions (e.g., limit iOS promotion 1 to once per 7days, limit ROKU promotion 2 to twice per 7 days, etc.). The operatorcan also define a global frequency cap, if desired (e.g., limit allpromotions to 3 times per 7 days). In this example, a user's interactionsequence with content can be as follows: the user visits iOS on Day 1and receives promotion 1; the user visits ROKU on Day 2 and receivespromotion 2; the user visits iOS on Day 3 and receives promotion 1; andthe user visits ROKU on day 4 but does not receive further promotionsuntil the global frequency cap resets on day 8.

Experiments

In certain examples, the systems and methods described herein can beused to perform “experiments” that allow online service operators totest variations of a promotion or experience to see which variationresults in the greatest positive impact. Operators can specify anynumber of variations within an experiment but, in general, only oneexperiment may run on a given promotion or path at a given instant intime. This allows operators to run multiple experiments or trials overtime on a single promotion or path. In various implementations, anexperiment may be designed to modify one or more of the followingparameters associated with a promotion or other item of content, suchas, for example: title text, message body text, offer value, confirmbutton text, and/or cancel button text. An experiment may modify anyactions specified within a path. Experiments can allocate users equallyto each variation.

Retention Cohorts

In certain implementations, the systems and methods described herein caninclude a user interface that allows online service operators to comparethe activities or status of (i) cohorts of users who have interactedwith specific promotions (or guidance or other items of content) with(ii) cohorts of users who have not interacted with the specificpromotions and/or have interacted with one or more different promotions.Such comparisons can allow an operator to evaluate the impact suchinteractions can have on user engagement with and retention in theonline service. For example, such comparisons can allow the serviceoperator to determine whether users who interact with promotion A staywith the online service longer that those who interact with promotion B.

FIG. 5 includes a screenshot 500 of an example graphical user interfacethat allows an operator to visualize the influence that two differentpromotions, paths, actions, or other items of content have on userretention in an online service over time. Each row in the user interfacerepresents a date, and columns represent days since an initial date.Each cell or row-column combination includes a box 502 formed by twotriangles. Numbers in each triangle can provide an indication of userengagement with the online service. One of the triangles 504 (e.g., atop triangle) can represent engagement following one promotion, and theother triangle 506 (e.g., a bottom triangle) can represent engagementfollowing a different promotion. In the depicted example, one of thepromotions was more effective at improving user engagement with theonline service. Such information can be used by the operator to adjustfuture content presentations, in an effort to improve user retention.

Pricing

In some instances, the systems and methods described herein can utilizeor include a pricing module for connecting to a payment system and/or aCRM system. Such connections can allow user properties such as user LTVand days to next renewal to be retrieved, but the connections may alsoprovide granular control over pricing, coupons, and subscriptions.Pricing traits can include, for example, user LTV, user since (e.g.,length of user relationship with service), is delinquent (e.g., true ifthe last billing attempt was unsuccessful), days to next renewal, and/ortrial about to end (e.g., true if trial ends within three days). Pricingactions can include, for example, show/hide coupons (e.g., show or hidethe coupon field), show/hide subscription plans (e.g., show onlyspecific subscription plans or hide irrelevant subscription plans), askpayer for credit card postal code (e.g., show a postal code field on apayment form) ask payer for billing address (e.g., show all addressfields, such as street address, city, state, postal code), ask payer forphone number (e.g., show a phone number field on the payment form), askpayer for email address (e.g., show an email field on the payment form),and/or increment usage quantity (e.g., add metered billing usage orallow user to view a video 10 times and then charge $100 dollars beforeallowing for more consumption).

Technology

In certain examples, the systems and methods can provide machineintelligence that enables online service providers to be richer,self-sufficient, more private, and/or less dependent on congestion pronesingle points of processing. The systems and methods can be an ideal fitfor gaming, e-commerce, communications, financial services,entertainment (e.g., movies and music), education, online storage,billing, customer relationship management (CRM), and/or marketplaceonline services. The systems and methods can be incorporated into oraccessed by (i) a website using a tag manager or (ii) an app using asoftware development kit (SDK). Alternatively or additionally, thesystems and methods or portions thereof can be embedded directly on aweb server (e.g., as a plugin).

In certain examples, the software and database components of the system100 can utilize or include client libraries, an admin console, areal-time stream data processor, integrations with various third partybusiness systems (e.g., for billing, support, or CRM services), and/or awebserver plugin. The client libraries can act as data collectors and/orrender end user facing content and experiences. A JAVASCRIPT client, forexample, can be added using a GOOGLE tag manager or a TEALIUM tagmanager, or can be directly integrated into an online service provider'swebsite. The admin console can be or provide a management console and/ornerve center of an online service platform. The admin console can allowoperators of online services to configure apps and set up traits,segments, promotions, experiences, and integrations. The admin consolecan allow operators to view dashboards and run experiments. Thereal-time stream data processor can dynamically segment incoming trafficinto manageable user segments based on rules or machine learning. Insome examples, the real-time stream data processor can be incorporatedinto the tracking module 120 and/or the segment module 122. Additionallyor alternatively, integrations with various third party business systemscan be achieved that relate to, for example, billing (e.g., STRIPE,APPLE, or ANDROID), support (e.g., ZENDESK, FRESHDESK, orSALESFORCE.COM), and/or marketing (e.g., SENDGRID, CAMPAIGN MONITOR, orMAILCHIMP). These integrations can be used or accessed through thirdparty connectors, as described herein. A webserver plugin can be used toextract crucial information from business systems or databases andsecurely add such information to incoming HTTP requests (e.g., forhandling an online service provider's application server logic).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an example method 600 of monitoring andmanaging an online experience. User data is obtained (step 602) thatdescribes interactions between a plurality of users and plurality ofonline services. A rate of change in usage of the online services isdetermined (step 604) based on the user data for each user in theplurality of users. A portion of the users is assigned (step 606) to auser segment based on the user data and the determined rate of change inusage. Based on the assignment, each user in the user segment isprovided (step 608) with a customized experience in one or more of theonline services.

Computer-Based Implementations

In some examples, some or all of the processing described above can becarried out on a personal computing device, on one or more centralizedcomputing devices, or via cloud-based processing by one or more servers.Some types of processing can occur on one device and other types ofprocessing can occur on another device. Some or all of the datadescribed above can be stored on a personal computing device, in datastorage hosted on one or more centralized computing devices, and/or viacloud-based storage. Some data can be stored in one location and otherdata can be stored in another location. In some examples, quantumcomputing can be used and/or functional programming languages can beused. Electrical memory, such as flash-based memory, can be used.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example computer system 700 that may beused in implementing the technology described herein. General-purposecomputers, network appliances, mobile devices, or other electronicsystems may also include at least portions of the system 700. The system700 includes a processor 710, a memory 720, a storage device 730, and aninput/output device 740. Each of the components 710, 720, 730, and 740may be interconnected, for example, using a system bus 750. Theprocessor 710 is capable of processing instructions for execution withinthe system 700. In some implementations, the processor 710 is asingle-threaded processor. In some implementations, the processor 710 isa multi-threaded processor. The processor 710 is capable of processinginstructions stored in the memory 720 or on the storage device 730.

The memory 720 stores information within the system 700. In someimplementations, the memory 720 is a non-transitory computer-readablemedium. In some implementations, the memory 720 is a volatile memoryunit. In some implementations, the memory 720 is a non-volatile memoryunit.

The storage device 730 is capable of providing mass storage for thesystem 700. In some implementations, the storage device 730 is anon-transitory computer-readable medium. In various differentimplementations, the storage device 730 may include, for example, a harddisk device, an optical disk device, a solid-state drive, a flash drive,or some other large capacity storage device. For example, the storagedevice may store long-term data (e.g., database data, file system data,etc.). The input/output device 740 provides input/output operations forthe system 700. In some implementations, the input/output device 740 mayinclude one or more network interface devices, e.g., an Ethernet card, aserial communication device, e.g., an RS-232 port, and/or a wirelessinterface device, e.g., an 802.11 card, a 3G wireless modem, or a 4Gwireless modem. In some implementations, the input/output device mayinclude driver devices configured to receive input data and send outputdata to other input/output devices, e.g., keyboard, printer and displaydevices 760. In some examples, mobile computing devices, mobilecommunication devices, and other devices may be used.

In some implementations, at least a portion of the approaches describedabove may be realized by instructions that upon execution cause one ormore processing devices to carry out the processes and functionsdescribed above. Such instructions may include, for example, interpretedinstructions such as script instructions, or executable code, or otherinstructions stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium. Thestorage device 730 may be implemented in a distributed way over anetwork, such as a server farm or a set of widely distributed servers,or may be implemented in a single computing device.

Although an example processing system has been described in FIG. 7,embodiments of the subject matter, functional operations and processesdescribed in this specification can be implemented in other types ofdigital electronic circuitry, in tangibly-embodied computer software orfirmware, in computer hardware, including the structures disclosed inthis specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinationsof one or more of them. Embodiments of the subject matter described inthis specification can be implemented as one or more computer programs,i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on atangible nonvolatile program carrier for execution by, or to control theoperation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or in addition,the program instructions can be encoded on an artificially generatedpropagated signal, e.g., a machine-generated electrical, optical, orelectromagnetic signal that is generated to encode information fortransmission to suitable receiver apparatus for execution by a dataprocessing apparatus. The computer storage medium can be amachine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, arandom or serial access memory device, or a combination of one or moreof them.

The term “system” may encompass all kinds of apparatus, devices, andmachines for processing data, including by way of example a programmableprocessor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers. A processingsystem may include special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (fieldprogrammable gate array) or an ASIC (application specific integratedcircuit). A processing system may include, in addition to hardware, codethat creates an execution environment for the computer program inquestion, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocolstack, a database management system, an operating system, or acombination of one or more of them.

A computer program (which may also be referred to or described as aprogram, software, a software application, a module, a software module,a script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, or declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astandalone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unitsuitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program may, butneed not, correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be storedin a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one ormore scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single filededicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files(e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, or portionsof code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on onecomputer or on multiple computers that are located at one site ordistributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communicationnetwork.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable computers executing one or morecomputer programs to perform functions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application specific integrated circuit).

Computers suitable for the execution of a computer program can include,by way of example, general or special purpose microprocessors or both,or any other kind of central processing unit. Generally, a centralprocessing unit will receive instructions and data from a read-onlymemory or a random access memory or both. A computer generally includesa central processing unit for performing or executing instructions andone or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally,a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive datafrom or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices forstoring data, e.g., magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks.However, a computer need not have such devices. Moreover, a computer canbe embedded in another device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or video player, a game console,a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, or a portable storage device(e.g., a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive), to name just a few.

Computer readable media suitable for storing computer programinstructions and data include all forms of nonvolatile memory, media andmemory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memorydevices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks,e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto optical disks; andCD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can besupplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented on a computerhaving a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquidcrystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and akeyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by whichthe user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices canbe used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input fromthe user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user bysending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is usedby the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on auser's user device in response to requests received from the webbrowser.

Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can beimplemented in a computing system that includes a back end component,e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g.,an application server, or that includes a front end component, e.g., aclient computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browserthrough which a user can interact with an implementation of the subjectmatter described in this specification, or any combination of one ormore such back end, middleware, or front end components. The componentsof the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digitaldata communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples ofcommunication networks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a widearea network (“WAN”), e.g., the Internet.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of what may beclaimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific toparticular embodiments. Certain features that are described in thisspecification in the context of separate embodiments can also beimplemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, variousfeatures that are described in the context of a single embodiment canalso be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in anysuitable sub-combination. Moreover, although features may be describedabove as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed assuch, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some casesbe excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may bedirected to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

Particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described. Otherembodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example,the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different orderand still achieve desirable results. As one example, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallelprocessing may be advantageous. Other steps or stages may be provided,or steps or stages may be eliminated, from the described processes.Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the followingclaims.

Terminology

The phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting.

The term “approximately”, the phrase “approximately equal to”, and othersimilar phrases, as used in the specification and the claims (e.g., “Xhas a value of approximately Y” or “X is approximately equal to Y”),should be understood to mean that one value (X) is within apredetermined range of another value (Y). The predetermined range may beplus or minus 20%, 10%, 5%, 3%, 1%, 0.1%, or less than 0.1%, unlessotherwise indicated.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used in the specification andin the claims, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, should beunderstood to mean “at least one.” The phrase “and/or,” as used in thespecification and in the claims, should be understood to mean “either orboth” of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that areconjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in othercases. Multiple elements listed with “and/or” should be construed in thesame fashion, i.e., “one or more” of the elements so conjoined. Otherelements may optionally be present other than the elements specificallyidentified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to thoseelements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, areference to “A and/or B”, when used in conjunction with open-endedlanguage such as “comprising” can refer, in one embodiment, to A only(optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, toB only (optionally including elements other than A); in yet anotherembodiment, to both A and B (optionally including other elements); etc.

As used in the specification and in the claims, “or” should beunderstood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. Forexample, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall beinterpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, butalso including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and,optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated tothe contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when usedin the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactlyone element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or”as used shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusive alternatives(i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded by terms ofexclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or “exactly oneof.” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims, shall haveits ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

As used in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “at leastone,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should beunderstood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more ofthe elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including atleast one of each and every element specifically listed within the listof elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the listof elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally bepresent other than the elements specifically identified within the listof elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether relatedor unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as anon-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “atleast one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) canrefer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including morethan one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements otherthan B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally includingmore than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionallyincluding more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including morethan one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

The use of “including,” “comprising,” “having,” “containing,”“involving,” and variations thereof, is meant to encompass the itemslisted thereafter and additional items.

Use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in theclaims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote anypriority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or thetemporal order in which acts of a method are performed. Ordinal termsare used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having acertain name from another element having a same name (but for use of theordinal term), to distinguish the claim elements.

Each numerical value presented herein, for example, in a table, a chart,or a graph, is contemplated to represent a minimum value or a maximumvalue in a range for a corresponding parameter. Accordingly, when addedto the claims, the numerical value provides express support for claimingthe range, which may lie above or below the numerical value, inaccordance with the teachings herein. Absent inclusion in the claims,each numerical value presented herein is not to be considered limitingin any regard.

The terms and expressions employed herein are used as terms andexpressions of description and not of limitation, and there is nointention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding anyequivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof. Inaddition, having described certain embodiments of the invention, it willbe apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodimentsincorporating the concepts disclosed herein may be used withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. The features andfunctions of the various embodiments may be arranged in variouscombinations and permutations, and all are considered to be within thescope of the disclosed invention. Accordingly, the described embodimentsare to be considered in all respects as only illustrative and notrestrictive. Furthermore, the configurations, materials, and dimensionsdescribed herein are intended as illustrative and in no way limiting.Similarly, although physical explanations have been provided forexplanatory purposes, there is no intent to be bound by any particulartheory or mechanism, or to limit the claims in accordance therewith.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method of monitoring andmanaging an online experience, the method comprising: obtaining userdata describing interactions between a plurality of users and aplurality of online services; determining, based on the user data, arate of change in usage of the online services for each user in theplurality of users; assigning a portion of the users to a user segmentbased on the user data and the determined rate of change in usage; andbased on the assignment, providing each user in the user segment with acustomized experience in one or more of the online services.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein obtaining the user data comprises: providinga designation of one or more online items to be tracked, the onlineitems comprising at least one of webpages, user interface buttons, oronline events; receiving tracking data comprising a record of clicks,number of visits, and usage time corresponding to the online items; andaggregating the tracking data by user to obtain user data describingeach user's interactions with one or more of the online services.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein each online service comprises at least one ofa website or a software application.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe online services provide content comprising at least one of videocontent, audio content, or text content.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the rate of change is indicative of declining usage of a firstonline service from the plurality of online services, and wherein thecustomized experience comprises an incentive to increase usage of thefirst online service.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the users areassigned to one or more additional segments based on at least one of achurn score, a fraud score, a customer satisfaction score, a netpromoter score, or a lifetime value.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe customized experience is delivered to all users of the user segment,and wherein other users from the plurality of users do not receive thecustomized experience.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the customizedexperience comprises a hidden action in which a sequence of content isprovided to the users of the user segment.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the customized experience comprises a path in which content isprovided to users according to a predefined timeline.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein providing the customized experience comprises limitinga frequency of content presentations across the online services for eachuser in the user segment.
 11. A system comprising: one or more computersystems programmed to perform operations comprising: obtaining user datadescribing interactions between a plurality of users and a plurality ofonline services; determining, based on the user data, a rate of changein usage of the online services for each user in the plurality of users;assigning a portion of the users to a user segment based on the userdata and the determined rate of change in usage; and based on theassignment, providing each user in the user segment with a customizedexperience in one or more of the online services.
 12. The system ofclaim 11, wherein obtaining the user data comprises: providing adesignation of one or more online items to be tracked, the online itemscomprising at least one of webpages, user interface buttons, or onlineevents; receiving tracking data comprising a record of clicks, number ofvisits, and usage time corresponding to the online items; andaggregating the tracking data by user to obtain user data describingeach user's interactions with one or more of the online services. 13.The system of claim 11, wherein the online services provide contentcomprising at least one of video content, audio content, or textcontent.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein the rate of change isindicative of declining usage of a first online service from theplurality of online services, and wherein the customized experiencecomprises an incentive to increase usage of the first online service.15. The system of claim 11, wherein the users are assigned to one ormore additional segments based on at least one of a churn score, a fraudscore, a customer satisfaction score, a net promoter score, or alifetime value.
 16. The system of claim 11, wherein the customizedexperience is delivered to all users of the user segment, and whereinother users from the plurality of users do not receive the customizedexperience.
 17. The system of claim 11, wherein the customizedexperience comprises a hidden action in which a sequence of content isprovided to the users of the user segment.
 18. The system of claim 11,wherein the customized experience comprises a path in which content isprovided to users according to a predefined timeline.
 19. The system ofclaim 11, wherein providing the customized experience comprises limitinga frequency of content presentations across the online services for eachuser in the user segment.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumhaving instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or morecomputer processors, cause the one or more computer processors toperform operations comprising: obtaining user data describinginteractions between a plurality of users and a plurality of onlineservices; determining, based on the user data, a rate of change in usageof the online services for each user in the plurality of users;assigning a portion of the users to a user segment based on the userdata and the determined rate of change in usage; and based on theassignment, providing each user in the user segment with a customizedexperience in one or more of the online services.